Cruising my 1995 Catalina 42 MK II sailboat with my cat XO, the good, the bad, and the ugly of the open ocean world cruising life.

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

In transit

At

05 42 E 112 39 S

Starting the next long transit of the Wonderful Sail 2 Indonesia rally. Technically we should have left Bali for Borneo but Chandara and I decided to skip Borneo and head direct for Beltuing. This reduced the number of long transits by one. It is also giving us an opportunity to get back on schedule. We only get 90 days in Indonesia and we have been repeatedly advised not to overstay. We are already behind so we need to catch up. Not to mention that getting away from the volcano Agung was a good strategy!

There have been two long transits already. From Thursday Island in Australia to Debut, Indonesia. And from South Buru to Maumere. This is the third - from Bali to Beltuing. Technically over 540 nautical miles. Chandara and Reboot stopped after about 200 nm in Bawean for crew rest. XO and I needed it. I slept 18 hours. We ran into Jaga II and Althea who are a day ahead of us.

Unfortunately we will arrive in Beltuing when we are supposed to be leaving. But the next few hops are shorter so we can make up some time. The organizers didn't plan the transit times well.

We have about 340 nautical miles to go. Give or take three days and nights. And no, even the nights are NOT better. The water all the way is shallow - usually about 200 feet. This means the bane of all Indonesian sailors: fishermen and fish aggregation devices (FOD's.) They are super nice people but it requires a good lookout to stay out of their way. It adds a lot of stress.

So off we go. Not much to do. No Internet. Reboot pretty much sails itself. This is of course good and bad. The bad is if I fall asleep we just keep going no matter what. I will read and play cards and nap all I can.